Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12

Commitment to Campus Life Action Items

Dear Hamden Hall Community:

This year promises to be one of unprecedented challenges and one that requires great flexibility. We continue to be concerned about our nation’s social justice issues and are committed to creating a safe space for all of our students to thrive on our campuses. The concerns and well-being of our students, particularly those of the BIPOC community, are our priority, and we will work diligently on all areas of campus life and learning to become a more inclusive community while maintaining the highest standards of education for which we take great pride in at this institution.

The newly formed position of Director of Inclusion, Equity and Diversity has additional support from within our Hamden Hall Community.  Dr. Lisa Beth Hill will work closely with Ms. Krysi Crimley in her new role as Student Equity Advocate.

In addition, the Board of Trustees Task Force on Equity and Inclusion will have a faculty/staff counterpart in the newly formed Committee on Equity & Ethics, which is composed of representatives from Human Resources, and Lower, Middle, and Upper School.  We are pleased that several parents have asked to work with us, and we will announce a Parent Committee (to be named) as well as a committee of dedicated alumni. 

The recent activities on social media have not gone unnoticed.  We are actively engaged with reaching out to those who are willing to share their stories and, as much as we are able, vetting messages to ensure that we address the hurtful experiences described by some of our students.

Additionally, we are committed to taking the following actions – more of which will ensue as we complete our various reviews and undertakings:

• Conduct a full audit of all reading materials and texts so they represent the diversity of races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientation.
• Create and facilitate affinity programming for BIPOC students, faculty, and alumni.
• Develop and commit consistent, ongoing training in equity and diversity for faculty and students.
• Commit to making it a priority to increase representation of the number of faculty and staff members of color.
• Continue to increase the representation of faculty and staff of color in leadership positions in administration and in other areas of our community.
• Develop more specific procedures for reporting incidents in which adults and students feel they have been harmed based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other personal identity characteristics.
• Pledge to maintain the school’s commitment to having a diverse student body, including providing need-based financial aid to meet this goal, as well as establishing new funding for affinity group programming.
• Demonstrate transparency with respect to our work and progress related to inclusion and equity by creating a school webpage that documents action items and progress made. The webpage will be updated throughout the school year.

Thank you for your interest and your emails, calls, and posts.  We are committed to making positive, enduring changes that will make Hamden Hall stand out as one of the leaders of social equity in the greater New Haven area and, perhaps, even state-wide.  We are confident that our anti-racist multicultural work will make Hamden Hall an even stronger school community. 
 
Please use the following email to contact us: Diversity@hamdenhall.org. You may also contact us directly.
 
Lisa Beth Hill
Director of Inclusion, Equity and Diversity
lhill@hamdenhall.org

Bob Izzo
Head of School
bizzo@hamdenhall.org
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Hamden Hall Country Day School

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Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.